Morning Player Notes (Mar 26)

For a team that isn't even close to the playoffs, it seems rather cheeky when they announce an injury as a mid-body injury.  That's what the Detroit Red Wings cited as the reason for Thomas Vanek's absence on Monday night against the San Jose Sharks.  The veteran winger has been decent this season, posting 36 points in 64 games with the lowly Wings, but it could be a spotty finish to the year, if he is going to be dealing with an injury down the stretch.  Detroit may just take this opportunity to dress some of their new young college signings.

Stacey C. has been eyeing up a top 10 finish in the standings, but his 13th place team may have a bit more of an issue getting there with this injury.  His team finished play 5 points back of 10th place and only 2 points came from Monday night, actually dropping a spot in the standings in the process.

The risk versus reward of Kris Letang is very real and very apparent these days, as he sat yet again on Monday night, due to an upper-body injury, only three games after coming back from an upper-body injury, but he was posting points in those games that he was playing.  The Penguins are drawing nearer and nearer to the playoffs and a win last night surely helped, so they could very well be exercising a bit of caution with Letang, since they do seem like a very safe bet to make it this season.

Our reigning Mover & Shaker knows all about the risk and reward of Letang, as Jeremy's team has suffered through the worst parts of the season, when he was on the shelf due to injury, but also has reaped some of those rewards, 56 points in 63 games this year.

The Tampa Bay Lightning made a miraculous comeback against the Boston Bruins last night, but early on, they lost forward Ondrej Palat to an upper-body injury, seeing him leave the game, not to return.  There hasn't been any published updates that I could see after the game, so we'll play the waiting game once again.  The Lightning have a little bit of time to burn here before the playoffs start and it might give Palat ample time to rest up and recover before the playoffs.

It looks like the Golden Knights are employing somewhat of a rotation, maybe not to the point of a constant rotation, but a blueline rotation, nonetheless, as Shea Theodore came out of the lineup on Monday night, as a healthy scratch against the St. Louis Blues.  The Golden Knights are on the verge of claiming their playoff spot and they are prepping their roster for it, making sure everyone isn't overworked and tired.  Not a bad plan, given that they are 11 points clear of the Coyotes, who are the first team outside the playoffs right now.

Tough night for Stacey M. on Monday, one player leaving his game injured and another scratched for the game.  There's no real cause for concern though, her team kept the pace of the other teams in the top three or five, finishing with 5 points and even extending the gap between 2nd and 3rd, now at 15 points.

Red Wings Shut Down Green

The Detroit Red Wings announced on Thursday morning that Mike Green has now been shut down for the remainder of the regular season, due to his illness.

The team announced that Green visited a specialist in regards to his illness and the doctors came back and said that he would need the appropriate amount of rest to overcome this virus and recommended weeks instead of days, thus ending his season.  With the Red Wings not making the playoffs this season, it will be an early summer for him and he should be back to 100% for training camp in September.

Green's season ends with 43 games in the books, 5 goals and 26 points for him, which should still have him within the pool worthy ranks at the end of the season.  As of Thursday morning, he ranks 52nd among all defensemen in pool scoring, but it should have been so much better. 

Very disappointing for Ryan's hockey pool team, losing a player for the last four and a half weeks of the season.  Green wasn't bad for him, when he was healthy, after picking him up in the Waiver Draft this year.  He collected 12 points out of 25 games, which isn't a terrible scoring rate for a mid-season swapped defenseman.

Ryan's team currently sits in 12th place, 5 points back of 9th and 8 points clear of 17th.

Afternoon Player Notes (Mar 5)

Well, there are some early lineup notes to look at before the action gets started today, so let's kick right into it. The Dallas Stars are expected to scratch Alexander Radulov for tonight's game against the New York Rangers. Obviously, he's drawn the ire of the team's coaching staff and will get a seat up in the press box. The Russian only played a little over 16 minutes in the team's last game and he has been counted on a lot of times for over 20 minutes, so there could be something to it here. We'll see if that gives him the right kick in the pants.

Radulov has 51 points in 54 games this season, which isn't a terrible return in the hockey pool, but it's a team game and the Dallas Stars have been struggling as a team.  This is a problem for Benson's pool team, since his player is the one sitting tonight.

Surprise, surprise... Mike Green is on the shelf once again.  A virus has sidelined the veteran defenseman once again and the team now expects him to miss the next 7-to-10 days, starting with missing tonight's game in Colorado.  The injury prone defender has 26 points in 43 games with the Red Wings this season, already having missed nine games to an illness and another 13 games a lower-body injury this season and he still carries a huge red flag, season over season.

Bad news for Ryan's team, which currently goes into Tuesday night's action in 12th place, 4 points out of 9th place.  Ryan's 15th place defense does take a pretty good hit with this injury over the next week or so, but he does have the tools in place to keep his team strong, so here's hoping for him.

The Montreal Canadiens are guarding against hitting the rookie wall for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, giving him the night off against the Los Angeles Kings, making him a healthy scratch.  It doesn't sound like anything more than an earned night off, so we expect him back in the lineup on Thursday night in San Jose.

Stacey M. has been pretty happy with the return she has had from Montreal's prized rookies, collecting 32 points in 66 games, to date, and her pool team has been very good for her too, starting the night in 2nd place.  Her team is 36 points out of 1st place and 6 points up on 3rd, right in the thick of it.  Her rookie has done her well.

The New Jersey Devils are expecting to be without Nico Hischier tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets, due to an upper-body injury.  He was reportedly hurt on the weekend in Boston and he's currently listed as out day-to-day, there haven't been very many updates on his condition otherwise.  With the Devils sucking wind in the Eastern Conference standings, I don't think they'll be too quick to rush him back into their lineup, as it won't likely do them any good for their dismal playoff hopes.

It's a disappointing turn of events for Kristy & Don, who are chasing down those money teams, starting the night in 4th place, 5 points out of 3rd and they'll now be missing a 44-point player in Hischier tonight and maybe more?

Morning Player Notes (Jan 11)

The Nashville Predators had to make an emergency recall of goaltender Troy Grosenick before their game against the Blue Jackets on Thursday night, as the lead up to the game, we didn't know which goalie wasn't able to dress, let alone start.  As it turned out, it was the projected starter for the game, Juuse Saros, who was the one that sat out, due to an illness, which forced Pekka Rinne to make back-to-back starts, losing in overtime to Columbus in the process.  It doesn't sound like anything to concerning for Saros, just bad timing.

I would certainly consider this a missed start for Eric's team, which is rather unfortunate.  With Nashville playing in back-to-backs and having their backup, you'd think you'd get the one rare start out of the deal.  Sadly, it wasn't the case, but Eric's team has been doing okay this week, 16 points and up to 20th, so it's not all doom and gloom.

Ottawa Senators rookie forward Colin White left last night's game against the Los Angeles Kings with a shoulder injury, departing the game in the 1st period, not to return.  There wasn't any more detail on the injury or any comments in my Twitter feeds to elaborate further on the injury, so we'll have to wait and see what comes of it before the team's next game, Saturday night in San Jose.  He will be day-to-day, until otherwise informed.

White is a part of the rookie movement that Derek B. has put together in the first Waiver Draft, one of five rookie forwards on his team and the only one really doing anything to help his team along to that mini-game money.  Derek's team is still 19 points behind Clayton's in the mini-game and if this injury is significant, it may be a much tougher ride to the end.

It's been a rocky season for Pittsburgh's Patric Hornqvist, as he just can't seem to catch many breaks this year.  On Thursday afternoon, he was diagnosed with a concussion, after he was hit in the face with a puck on Tuesday night against Florida.  Hornqvist was added to the Injury Prone List this past summer and with incidents such as this, you can definitely see why you may not want him in your lineup.  The reward for his healthy play is pretty good, 26 points in 34 games, but this is already his second reported concussion this season and he missed time to an undisclosed upper-body injury as well.

Someone will always be betting on guys like Hornqvist in the draft, but if you do, the trick is not to pick him too high.  Chelsea took a shot at him in the 5th round, 124th overall, and his current ranking, after Thursday night's action is 144th, so it hasn't been a bad return, but that rank will drop, due to more time being missed.

It was a return to the press box for the sophomore defenseman Mikhail Sergachev of the Lightning on Thursday night, as his play has not been up to the standards of the Tampa coaching staff in recent weeks.  I'm sure most people would agree that the kid has a boatload of talent, but there just is something about that second year in the league, which some players do struggle in.  This is all part of the eventual learning curve and he'll be a big part of the Lightning's future success.

Future success doesn't exactly help Stuart's hockey pool team right now though.  Not that it needs a great deal of help at the moment, holding a 6-point lead, heading into Friday's action.  Sergachev has 16 points in 41 games this season and 2 points this week, but that just wasn't enough to find his way upstairs last night.

Morning Player Notes (Dec 15)

On Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers granted goaltender Michal Neuvirth a leave of absence to be with his wife for the birth of their child and in doing that, he wasn't available for Friday night's game in Edmonton and it sounds like he could be doubtful for Saturday night's game in Vancouver as well.  He was moved to a non-roster spot for the leave of absence, but there are no restrictions on it and he'll be eligible to return to the lineup, when he rejoins the team.

Lots of confusion on Friday, when the media tried to dissect the comments left behind by the Vegas coaching staff, when they were asking about the lineup they'd play against the Devils last night.  In the end, Max Pacioretty wasn't the healthy scratch many media outlets were assuming, rather there is an injury that kept him out of the game, but the nature of that injury was still to be disclosed, but the team considers it a minor injury.  So, for whatever that is worth, the veteran forward is day-to-day, unclear if he'll be ready to go for Sunday afternoon's tilt against the Rangers.

That's a couple of games that Stuart's team missed out on last night and his team hasn't been able to keep pace with Troy's side this week, dropping the overall lead and losing ground on the race, as he opens up Saturday down by 5 points.  Neuvirth should return soon and will probably get some time in the crease before too long, but we just don't know what's going to happen with Pacioretty just yet.

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang left Friday night's game against the Boston Bruins with an injury and didn't return to the game, but there were no visible signs of injury, as he left the arena, according to some reports.  The coaching staff were very coy, when it comes to the injury prone defender's health moving forward, not giving much in the way of any details or reasons for his early departure, so it's one we'll have to keep an eye on for now.  The Penguins host the Kings tonight, so it will be a matter of whether or not he suits up for the game and if he doesn't, we'll list him as day-to-day, until otherwise noted.

Jeremy's 16th place team can ill-afford to be without Letang, since he has been one of his more solid contributors this season, 25 points in 30 games.  Letang is 5th on his team in points this year, tops among his defensemen, and Jeremy has very little room for error, before his side can drop another couple spots in the blink of an eye.

Noon Player Notes (Dec 14)

The Calgary Flames have recalled goaltender Jon Gillies on Friday, signalling that Mike Smith's sudden departure from Wednesday night's comeback win was indeed an injury, of the undisclosed variety, and it sounds like he will not dress for Saturday afternoon's contest in Minnesota.  He's considered day-to-day and we can now expect David Rittich to get the start in that one.

It's hard to say whether or not this would be considered a missed start for Brian's pool team, since Smith wasn't all that sharp on Wednesday night against the Flyers, but not dressing does confirm that he won't be playing, even in relief.  Brian's team continues to tumble a bit, dropping down to 12th this week and could use some help from the rest of his healthy bodies.

Another lower-body injury concern, this time in New Jersey, as Taylor Hall has been experiencing some soreness down there and hasn't been able to practice fully in the last couple of days.  The coaching staff are calling him a game-time decision tonight, when they take on the Golden Knights and if he can't go, we will have him on the list as out day-to-day for right now.

This could be somewhat alarming for Mike's team, as this is his best forward possibly taking some time off due to injury, as 31 points in 29 games is a tough hole in the lineup, if he's missing.  Mike's team sits in 7th, 18 points out of 3rd place and could ill-afford to have Hall out for too long.

From the Washington Capitals skate this morning, all indications are pointing to a return for forward Tom Wilson, as he's coming back from an upper-body injury, which he suffered about 10 days ago against the Golden Knights.  This would be a big boost to Scott's team, which is only 2 points clear of the Basement Dweller nod for this week.

Red Wings' Green Out

Rough news out of Detroit on Friday morning, as the coaching staff announced that veteran defenseman Mike Green will miss the next 3-to-5 weeks with a groin injury, likely to be placed on the Injured Reserve right away, so they can recall Filip Hronek from the AHL ahead of their game against the Senators.

Green, an Injury Prone List member since 2013, has had more than his fair share of injuries over the years and a long stretch on the shelf now shouldn't come as a great surprise for the 33-year old.

It is rather disappointing though, he has been having a decent season, posting 3 goals and 16 points in 26 games on a Detroit team that is arguably overachieving to this point in the season.  He ranks 31st among all defensemen in hockey pool scoring this year, just to give an idea of just how good his season has been.

He wasn't taken in the original draft in September, however, he wasn't picked up until the Week Nine Waiver Draft, when Ryan snagged him in the 1st round, 12th overall.  Since his activation, Green played in five games and had a goal and an assist in that time.  Ryan's team has also shot up the standings since the Waiver Draft order was decided, as it now sits in 6th place, 18 points out of the money.

Noon Player Notes (Dec 2)

Well, it seems pretty obvious now that we have to add St. Louis Blues forward Robby Fabbri to the Injury Prone List this coming summer, as he has been hurt yet again and he just can't seem to catch a break early on in his career. Last night against the Coyotes, Fabbri was hit into the boards on a legal play, but came out of his favouring his shoulder and left the game with the official word, an upper-body injury.  There was no word on the extent of his injury after the game, but it didn't look great.

Fortunately for Dale C., he had already given up on Fabbri, dropping him in the 2nd round of the Waiver Draft, and it looks like it's a good move.  If Fabbri is out for any length of time, Dale will have already had Brett Connolly in the Capitals added to his roster.  Dale collected 2 goals and 4 points out of 15 appearances out of the Blues forward.

Knee Surgery Sidelines Quick Again

It's been a horrible start to the season for Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, as he has landed on the Injured Reserve again.  This will be his second time on the IR this season, already having missed five games to a lower-body injury, this time it will be another lower-body injury, a torn meniscus in his knee, which required surgery.  He will be out indefinitely.

Two more injuries this season will now land Quick on the Injury Prone List next summer, as he has missed a considerable amount of time in the last few years and he is a high-risk pick in any hockey pool draft these days.

The 32-year old has only appeared in four games this season, failing to win one decision and leaving with no points on the board.

This will undoubtedly be a huge disappointment to Derek B. and his pool team, which is dangerously close to the bottom of the draft standings, sitting 24th, but 7 points clear of last place at the start of Wednesday night.  Derek has been fortunate to have one very good goalie to somewhat make-up for Quick's lack of wins, as Frederik Andersen in Toronto has been doing well so far.

Morning Player Notes (Oct 31)

Detroit Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou reportedly suffered an undisclosed injury on the weekend against the Dallas Stars and that had forced him from Tuesday night's contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The Red Wings did not confirm any details about the injury last night, only saying that he was day-to-day.  The Red Wings are at home to New Jersey on Thursday night, so we're hopeful that we'll see something from the team by then, if not earlier. 

It has been a rough start to the week for Jesse's team, which has only managed 1 point in the first two nights of the week, now currently sitting in the Basement Dweller spot.  His team can still recover from this rough spot they're in, but missing out on a skater game isn't going to help.  Athanasiou has 6 points in his first 11 games this year, not scoring at a terrible rate early on.

The New York Islanders gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a pretty good once over on Tuesday night, winning 6-3, but in the win, they lost goaltender Robin Lehner, who was forced from the game in the 2nd period with a reported muscle strain. There was no indication where the strain was, being a goalie, you would be assuming lower-body, but there's no confirmation, so it's difficult to say.  Lehner still managed to get credit for the win, but the injury is a pretty solid loss for the club.

Chelsea's team still managed to collect the 2 points for the victory, but we can't say how long the keeper is going to be out for.  Her team is off to a good start this week, already picking up 9 points and has moved up three spots to 18th, but it's a reasonable question to ask whether or not those gains will last with this injury.

It was a trip up to the press box for New York Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich, who has drawn the ire of the coaching staff of late for his performances.  In 10 games this season, the Russian forward has 3 goals and 5 points, good enough for 250th overall in hockey pool scoring, but certainly not good enough for his coach, so he was a healthy scratch on Tuesday night.  The Rangers won in the shootout, 4-3, against the Sharks and a win usually means it will be difficult for a player to draw back into the lineup, so we'll have to wait and see.

Steve took Buchnevich with his 7th round pick, 163rd overall, so he hasn't been getting the production that he would have expected by now from him.  Steve's team isn't doing too badly with a slumping player on his side, sitting in 2nd place, 2 points back of 1st and 2 points up on 3rd place.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were without the injury prone defenseman Kris Letang on Tuesday night against the New York Islanders, as he is currently listed as out day-to-day with a lower-body injury.  There wasn't a lot to the injury news itself, suggesting that the injury could be minor, but who's really to say with Letang?  He has had a long history of injuries in his career and some have crept out of nowhere to be some long-term issues.

Letang was certainly one of the few bright spots for Jeremy's team in the early part of the season, ranking 7th among all defensemen in the pool with 4 goals and 11 points in his first nine games.  Sadly, that is one of Jeremy's few bright spots, down in 19th place after Tuesday night's action.

It was a good night for returning players from injury, as Torey Krug of the Bruins made his season debut, Joe Thornton of the Sharks came back from his knee infection, Alexander Radulov of the Stars was back from his lower-body injury and Cory Schneider of the Devils made his season debut in relief of Keith Kinkaid last night.  All of these returns should make up for the lost games above them, evening out the losses.  Mike, Dale C., Benson and Tony all received some good gains there, for sure.

Morning Player Notes (Oct 14)

Anaheim Ducks rookie Troy Terry took a seat in the press box on Saturday night for their game against the Dallas Stars, just as a healthy scratch, by the sound of things.  The Ducks forward has yet to register a point in his first four games, but he has been tapped for a couple of shootout attempts, to which he had scored on one of them.  The Ducks are turning it right around, playing on Sunday night in St. Louis, so we'll see if Terry draws back in right away or not.

It was a missed skater game for Jesse's team, which has been mediocre in Week Two, with only 22 points in the week, dropping down to 13th from 12th at the end of Week One.  His team is still right in the thick of it, only 7 points out of 3rd place, so it shouldn't take much to get back in there.

Another healthy scratch to speak of in Boston, as Ryan Donato was re-entered into the lineup, but coming out was a standout from last season, forward Danton Heinen.  The Bruins top line players have been flying of late, but they are trying to spark their secondary scoring somewhat with these scratches, just in case the top line has an off night.  The Bruins might cycle some of these guys around for a while, until they find some consistency, whenever that might turn out for them.

Much like Jesse's team, Derek B.'s team has also been somewhat average, also with 22 points in the week, but it has been better than his Week One, so he has made some gains in the standings, instead of some losses, moving up from 22nd to 18th in the week.  I don't think Heinen will be out for long, just a night off and he can get back to it.

One more healthy scratch to speak of, this time with the traveling Oilers, as defenseman Matt Benning was sat for the game in New York, as he hasn't been able to find the scoresheet in their first couple of games either.  The Oilers added some veteran depth to their side in the off-season and through training camp, so the pressure is on some of these young guys to produce or else lose their place on the roster.  Produce and you'll play, it's as easy as that.

This didn't help Clayton's cause much on Saturday, as his team couldn't follow up a strong week in the scoring department, posting only a few points on Saturday and lost all the ground he made up on the leaders in the week.  I would expect Benning back in the lineup soon, but the Oilers certainly have their eye out for him and his production.

Ugly injury alert... we're waiting to hear what the extent of the injury is for Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz, as he went down awkwardly on his left ankle and it looked gross.  Every indication is that this could be a long-term issue for the injury prone defender and it could be another long stint on the shelf for him.  Schultz has gotten off to a good start, before the injury, so the Penguins could ill-afford to be without him for the long-term, but they may not have much of a choice.

Scott's team certainly doesn't need this injury, as it is currently vying for the Basement Dweller this week and if you throw a major injury on to a top defender, his 8th round pick this year, then the losses will certainly start to stack up.  His team currently sits 19th and is now holding its breath.

The Vancouver Canucks are off to a much better start than most would have thought they would and it is all on the shoulders of rookie sensation Elias Pettersson, who has 8 points in their first five games.  There is some concern for a serious head injury, as he was driven to the ice by Mike Matheson of the Panthers on Saturday night, having to leave the game early, looking fairly woozy.  The Canucks did not offer an early update on the young Swede, but he did make the trip to their next stop on the road trip, which is Pittsburgh, and he'll likely have to clear concussion protocol before dressing next.

More bad news for Clayton, but he did collect another goal from the talented rookie before he left the game, if that is any consolation.  Clayton's team does have a good lead in the rookie pool, but it's the big money that is the concern, where his team is now 9 points out of 1st place and he'll need Pettersson to get there.

There were plenty of players returning to their respective lineups on Saturday as well, which we'll take a quick note of here.  Mark Jankowski of the Flames, Kevin Shattenkirk of the Rangers, Olli Maatta of the Penguins and Andreas Johnsson of the Maple Leafs all returned from the press box on Saturday night, Johnsson picking up a point in his return, making an impact for Wilton's team right away.  Valeri Nichushkin of the Stars returned from injury and played against the Ducks, while Matt Murray was cleared through concussion protocol and only returned to the bench in a backup role for the Penguins.  That will clear up some names on the weekly reset on Monday morning.

Penguins Murray Suffers Concussion

Well, I think we'll finally add Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray to the Injury Prone List, as he is down again and it's another concussion that has sidelined the team's number one goalie and it's hard to say, exactly, when he'll be good to go again.  The Penguins have already recalled Tristan Jarry, who may see some action before too long, but the main concern is for Murray, who has dealt with concussion problems in the past.

With concussion protocol the way it is nowadays, there is no concrete timetable for when a player like Murray can be eligible to return, as it will all depend on how he responds to the concussion testing.  There have been cases of day-to-day, as much as there have been indefinite cases.  For now, he'll be listed as out indefinitely, until otherwise noted.

Murray has 1 win and 2 points in two appearances this season with the Penguins, hardly getting off the ground this season.  Jarry started the year on the non-roster IR, as he had a minor injury coming out of the preseason, but when he was deemed healthy, he didn't have to pass through waivers to get to the minors, which meant that he was the easy choice to send down.  His recall could mean that he gets the team's next start, Thursday night, at home to Vegas.

So, in the pool, Wilton's 7th place takes a hit with the loss of Murray, while Neil's 11th place team gets a boost with Jarry returning to the big show.  The two teams are separated by 3 points, as of Tuesday morning, pending future results.

A Guide to the Injury Prone 2018

Well, the 2018 season was a wee bit strange in the hockey pool, when it comes to my beloved Injury Prone List, as I stuck to it pretty well, as I normally do, but this year saw a team with five entries to this list win the whole thing. All the stars aligned for Stuart, not only in the health category, but also his fortune in the players that he actually picked. Somehow, he managed to get Evgeni Malkin, Taylor Hall, Sidney Crosby, Bryan Little and Jason Spezza in the year and he went home with the year's big prize. Unbelievable.

With five players on the Injury Prone List, Stuart was still able to rank 3rd in skater games played in the pool, finishing with 946, while I stuck to my list and finished 2nd, with 951 games played.  My team finished 5th in the standings, 95 points short of Stuart's.

There's no exact science to the hockey pool, there is as much hope and luck in it, as there is a skill to picking the right players.  You can do all the reading, all the scouting before the draft, but there are so many variables, which play out through the season, that you really can't count on.  Injuries are one of those, even if you make a list of players to avoid.  They may have been less likely to get hurt, but it's not impossible.

I'm sure that a few people were shying away from the Penguins and from Hall, starting year two with the Devils, there's no question that they are highly-skilled players, but they do come with some risk.  It was just Stuart's year to take a chance on them and hope for the best.

I started this list back in 2008 and since then, I have added 84 players to it, 51 of which, were still active in the 2018 season.  Out of those 51 players, 33 of them were still deemed to be pool worthy, meaning either the top 200 forwards, top 100 defensemen or top 50 goalies.  Of those 33 pool worthy players, five of them were in the top 100 overall in scoring, including the top three on Stuart's list and Aleksander Barkov of the Panthers and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Blue Jackets.  They were certainly worth the risk in 2018.

This list is just a tool, which does seem to help me keep a relatively healthy hockey pool team, year after year, but it's also not so much of a risk-taking team, which was the one that won the money this year.  Sometimes, those risks can pay off and it will get you your name on the trophy at the end of the year.  So, with that being said, time to pick out the new names for the 2018 list... I would like to get 10 more names on it, but we'll see how it pans out.

It's funny, it feels like every season, I add a name to the list, who probably should have been on here ages ago and that's no different this year, adding Bobby Ryan of the Senators.  This guy has had more finger/hand injuries than most people can count on their fingers and the 2018 season was a good example of that, coming out of the lineup four times in the season for one of these injuries and limiting his season to only 62 games.  He was still pool worthy in the year, finishing with 33 points, but his injury prone nature isn't exactly making him a fan favourite and his $7.5 million cap hit for the next four seasons is one the team is trying to rid themselves of, if you believe the stories out there.

I think I've considered Nick Foligno of the Blue Jackets in seasons previous, but could never really pull the trigger on adding his name to the list. Two more lower-body injuries, costing him 10 more games in the 2018 season, has me counting up his totals over the last few seasons and I can see a bit of a pattern. This guy does get hurt and maybe he doesn't miss a ton of games, but his scoring numbers are so up and down, that it has to take a toll on his consistency through the season and to me, that's what makes him worth avoiding at the hockey pool draft.  He's another guy who carries a heavy cap hit, $5.5 million over the next three seasons, which looks like a tough pill to swallow.

The last three seasons for Chicago's Artem Anisimov haven't been great and that's going to land him on this list as well. An upper-body injury cost him 10 games in the 2018 season, four separate lower-body injuries cost him 17 games in the 2017 season and he missed five games in the 2016 season.  He's a gritty player, that will grind and muck it out and he does have some good offensive upside, especially on a talented team like the Blackhawks, but I'm just not confident that if he was on my side, that I could count on him for games played and points.

New York Rangers forward Jesper Fast joins the list after a rough season for the lower-body in 2018. A hip injury cost him five games, a quadriceps injury cost him another three games and then he missed the last three games of the year with a groin injury. The year before that, he missed 14 games to three different injuries and that's all adding up to a guy that just can't stay healthy.  Fast is a guy that has some really good offensive upside to his game, 33 points in 71 games isn't too bad, but the Rangers could have used a little bit more consistency in his game, possibly something that the injury bug zapped out of him.

For where Patric Hornqvist plays the better part of his ice-time, I'm a tad surprised that he isn't hurt more often, but he does seem to get hurt fairly often.  This season, he missed 12 games with three separate injuries and even missed some more time in the playoffs too.  Hornqvist is a battler, who finds himself in front of the net and is often rewarded with points for his hard work and dedication to his craft, but he does seem to be one of those guys that could possibly bite you in the rear end, if you take him too high in the draft.  He's a good player, who plays on a top line in the NHL, but there's a risk to his game, which could make or break your hockey pool season.

Here's another guy that possibly should have been on the list a while ago, but never surfaced to the top of the pile. Alexander Edler of the Canucks continues to miss a handful (or more) games in a season, failing to play more than 74 games in his last five years. A sprained knee at the start of the 2018 campaign cost him 12 games and he wasn't quite the same player as we'd normally come to expect.  A fractured finger in 2017 and a broken leg in 2016, yeah... he's a guy that probably should have been on this list a while ago.

Back-to-back seasons with ankle injuries, costing significant amounts of time. As a guy that has had plenty of ankle problems himself, those are things that are tough to get away from and it has already really hampered the talent of Buffalo's Jack Eichel and it's a real red flag for me, when it comes to the hockey pool. Sure, I think this kid has all the talent in the world and if he can stay healthy nowadays, he could contend for a scoring title. It's just a huge but that lingers over top of him, especially after long stints on the Injured Reserve with ankle injuries.   He's probably the best example of high risk-high reward.

After looking at the list of injuries that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson has suffered in recent years, this is another guy that probably should have made the list a while ago.  13 games to an upper-body injury in 2018, 36 games to a leg injury in 2017, 9 games to a lower-body injury in 2016 and 34 games to a leg injury in 2015... it's really hard to take a guy that not only gets hurt, but can find some long stints on the IR as well.  Johnson remains a productive player, 25 points last season, but you would think that he could get a touch more, if he'd just stay healthy for an entire season.

Another really talented player, hampered mightily by injury is Tampa Bay's Ondrej Palat, who can't seem to catch many breaks in his NHL career. Over the last four seasons, he's topped out at 75 games in a couple of years, combining a number of minor knocks and missing out on 26 games to a lower-body injury in the 2018 season, really highlighting his inclusion on this list.  A few games here, a handful there, 12 games to a lower-body injury in the 2016 season, he's a bit of a liability for your hockey pool team, no matter what his scoring rate is.

Goalies are sometimes hard to add to this list, except when they're Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche.  Goalie totals of games played can somewhat hide these guys among the greater list, but it is important that some of them get weeded out, just so you know what the risks are about taking the injury prone ones.  Groin and knee injuries in 2018 cost him some significant time, hip surgery in 2017 cost him half the regular season and other groin problems in 2016 were an issue as well.  Varlamov can be a very productive player, when he's in the Colorado crease, but he has been known to disappear to the IR from time-to-time.

11 players on my Injury Prone List were able to play in all 82 games last season, while another four players played in 81 games and three more played in 80 games.  Like I said before, this system isn't at all perfect, but you do have to assess the risk of guys like Mikael Backlund of the Flames, who earned his status a few years ago, but has really shown some durability over the last three seasons, only missing one game in that time.

Usually, I'd run down the whole list of players still active and playing, but that usually takes an unbelievable amount of time.  I do think that this list should play a part in free agency, when you're hoping that your favourite NHL club is doing their shopping.  Mike Green, Kari Lehtonen, Thomas Vanek, Paul Stastny, Tyler Bozak, Michael Grabner, Rick Nash, Kevin Bieksa, Mike Cammalleri, Scottie Upshall, Matt Hendricks and David Booth, among the unrestricted free agents this summer, looking for a new place to play.  How many will sign?  How many will continue playing overall?